"Important, Informative, and Thought-Provoking Reading"

IVORY’S GHOSTS:
The White Gold of History and the Fate of Elephants
By John Frederick Walker
304 pp. Atlantic Monthly Press $25.00
Reviewed by Lynne M. Hinkey

From the title, cover, and book jacket blurb, I expected Ivory’s Ghosts to focus on elephants, their natural history, their plight, and conservation strategies—both successful and not—in the context of the ivory trade. Sadly, as the title states, the elephant in the room is merely a ghostly presence for the better part of this book, an afterthought, as it has been throughout history, to the economic value of its tusks.

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